Marble Thought covered by a Cloth

D. (or E.) Freuler (Active in 1880 -After 1909)

Circa 1895

Salt print

H. 24.2 cm ; W. 17.6 cm

Ph.1305

When Camille Claudel joined his studio, Rodin made several portraits and masks of her. In 1886-89, he modelled Thought, an allegorical work showing the face of the young woman, wearing a little pleated bonnet, emerging from a block of rough-hewn marble.

In 1895, Rodin became interested in the effect of adding drapery to an earlier work (Draped Torso of The Age of Bronze), or, as seen here, in the way in which a simple piece of fabric, placed over Thought, altered the appearance of a sculpture. Camille Claudel’s face is veiled and in the shadow.

Freuler captured and recorded the sculptor’s spontaneous gesture in this photograph, thus turning it into an ephemeral variation of the work.